Safety education in and through Physical Education since the 1960s

Abstract

Since the 1960s, the question of safety education has gradually arisen in France. This is defined by the Public Health Expertise and Reference Centre of Quebec in 1998 as "a state where the dangers and conditions that can cause physical, psychological or material damage are controlled in such a way as to preserve health and well-being of individuals and the community". The importance of physical education in the French educational system, due to fears and accidents related to the massive influx of students, is becoming increasingly important in the teaching of physical education.

From the fear of emptiness, to the fear of bodily contact or the fear of water, from the fear of revealing one's intimacy through forms of bodily or artistic expression to the concern for the gaze of others, what are the apprehensions of safety in and by Physical Education since the 1960s? Are they the same for the student, the teacher and also for the Institution that welcomes them?

In this paper, and based on the analysis of official discourses and professional practices, we will try to explain the progressive transformations of the security issues of this teaching which will gradually anesthetize the educational creativity of teachers. It will thus be a question of explaining the concrete consequences of increasingly strict regulations which, despite laudable educational intentions, reveal to PE teachers the real risks of their profession. Such an observation is all the more challenging since at the same time the ministerial directives order the development of the learning of autonomy for all students.